Structure of Java web application?

Question

Sorry to ask this simple question.I have searched a lot and I can't find a reliable answer that exactly what I want. That's why I created this question.

we completed two spring projects in Java.

Each project , we have created , has a different folder structure in WebContent for module separation.

Now we are going to start a new project using eclipse with SVN and the project has three modules.

WebContent Folder structure for Project one is ,

WebContent

    - moduleOne
        - conf
            - moduleOne.conf
        - css
            - moduleOne.css
        - js
            - moduleOne.js
        - jsp
            - moduleOne.jsp
        - images
            - moduleOne.png

    - moduleTwo
        - conf
            - moduleTwo.conf
        - css
            - moduleTwo.css
        - js
            - moduleTwo.js
        - jsp
            - moduleTwo.jsp
        - images
            - moduleTwo.png

    - META-INF

    - WEB-INF
        - lib
        - web.xml

WebContent Folder structure for Project one is ,

WebContent

    - conf
        - moduleOne
            - moduleOne.conf
        - moduleTwo
            - moduleTwo.conf

    - css
        - moduleOne
            - moduleOne.css
        - moduleTwo
            - moduleTwo.css

    - images        
        - moduleOne
            - moduleOne.png
        - moduleTwo
            - moduleTwo.png

    - js
        - moduleOne
            - moduleOne.js
        - moduleTwo
            - moduleTwo.js

    - jsp       
        - moduleOne
            - moduleOne.jsp
        - moduleTwo
            - moduleTwo.jsp



    - META-INF

    - WEB-INF
        - lib
        - web.xml

Now we are in a situation to choose the preferred way of creating a folder structure.

Also it should be:

Easily customizable.
Easy to modify a separate module,if any new requirement came.

Any new ideas or methods and all answers would also be greatly appreciated.

i suggest the first one. easy to understand and soon new employees can understand the structure by just one sight. — Baby
– Baby, Commented Nov 27, 2013 at 8:54
Consider putting your .jsp files underneath WEB-INF. It's generally considered safer, as it ensures that they cannot be loaded directly via a URL. — Steve
– Steve, Commented Nov 27, 2013 at 9:04
@Steve can you please draw the folder structure which should be very useful . Because I can have upto 10 - 15 JSP's for every module. — Human Being
– Human Being, Commented Nov 27, 2013 at 9:10
@Mr-Phi any number of modules in future. But currently we have only 3 modules in our product. — Human Being
– Human Being, Commented Nov 27, 2013 at 9:17

Steve · Accepted Answer · 2013-11-27 10:42:42Z

1

I like to keep static web resources under a 'resources' directory and all views and config underneath WEB-INF. This ensures that I can enable liberal access permissions and caching on 'resources'. Also, this ensures that .jsp files will not be directly accessible via a URL (unless you mess up your config!). Other than that, your first solution above is solid. Especially, as it becomes easier to apply module-level security and other configuration based on the path to the relevant module.

So as a tweak to solution 1, I would recommend something like:

- resources
    - moduleOne
        - css
            - moduleOne.css
        - js
            - moduleOne.js
        - images
            - moduleOne.png
    - moduleTwo
        - css
            - moduleTwo.css
        - js
            - moduleTwo.js
        - images
            - moduleTwo.png
- META-INF
- WEB-INF
    - modules
        - moduleOne
            - conf
                - moduleOne.conf
            - views
                - moduleOneViewOne.jsp
        - moduleTwo
            - conf
                - moduleTwo.conf
            - views
                - moduleTwoViewOne.jsp
    - lib
    - web.xml

answered Nov 27, 2013 at 10:42

Steve

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4 Comments

Human Being Over a year ago

Thanks for your answer. Also why you put the conf in web-inf ?

Steve Over a year ago

I assumed that the conf files should not be visible to users of the web application. Maybe that's not the case?

Gobliins Over a year ago

Where are the .java files?

Steve Over a year ago

In a typical Maven War project structure, the above would be in src/main/webapp, whereas Java sources would be in src/main/java. In the final package, the Java sources would be compiled to .class files in WEB-INF/classes or (preferred) Jar files in WEB-INF/lib. Maven or Gradle will do that for you.

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